Improved railway-frog



N.ETERS, FHOTO-LTHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON D C dini-ted' Ctatr' @met @titilleD. C. PIER-CE., 0F CLAYTON', NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 99,346, dated February 1, 1870; antedaied .amcary 31,1870.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-FROG.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

Railway-Frogs; and I do hereby declare that the fole lowing is afull,lclear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, makmg part of this specification, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating like partswherever they occur. v

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention,-I will proceed to describe it. My invention relates to railway-frogs,and consists in constructing them of an upper or face plate, withsuitable openings throughit, in which are inserted the frog-point andguard-rails, made of-iron or steel, in such a manner as to yberemovable, and of a lower or base plate, so constructed that the faceplate may he rmly secured to it, and sothat an elastic material of anysuitable kind mayA be interposed between the plates; and'also in thenovel construction and arrangement of end-pieces for'coimecting the frogwith the track-rails.

In the drawingsi Figure l is a top plan view;

Figure 2 is an edge view; and

Figure 3 is a cross velt-ical section on the line :zr-x of figpl,

In constructing my frog, 1 make an upper or face plate, C, `out ofsuitable material, and of any size desired, and provide it with openingscorresponding with the shape and size of the face ot' a frog-point, Il,and guard-rails F, or of any other frog-point or guard-rails that may berequired.

These frog-points and guard-rails I makev of steel, with flanges a attheir` base, so 4as to give them a broad support, and then'insert themthrough the under side of the face plate C, as' clearly shown in igs. land 3, interposing, at the same time, an elastic material, I), of wood,paper, or other suitable material, between the upper side of the flangesand the under side of the face plate, as shown in iig. 3.

I then make an under or base plate, A,of the same vsize and form withthe face plate C, constructing it with a depression, b, on its upperface, for the insertion of any suitable elastic material, at shown in,said g. 3, and also with flanges G, for 'connecting it to thesleepers.- A

These plates, thus constructed, and with the frogpoint and guard-railsinserted, I then fasten together with screw-bolts and nuts d, havingfirst interposed the elastic material proposed to be used. This elasticmaterial, I so place and arrange as to form the bearing, both on theupper and lower sides of the flangesV of the frog-point and guard-rails,as well as between the plates themselves, as clearly shown in tig. 3.

The ends of my frog, I provide with pieces B, having a notch orshoulder, C, on their upper inner side, for a projection of the baseplate A to bear upon, as shown in g. 2, and' also for the anges of theguardrails at one end,-and the flanges of the frog at the other, toextend over and hear upon.

These end-pieces B are attached to the ends of the i frog, just in frontof one of the sleepers, and so that its highest upper face may comeunder the end of the `upper plate C, as shown in ig.1.

1f desired, these end-pieces B may have their sides extended up withlugs e, formedso'as to clasp on the upper side of the face pla-te O, vasshown in the same figure.

My frog, thus constructedfhas manyadvantages.-

Being made of two' plates, it can be conveniently taken apart for theremoval or renewal of the frog-point and guard-rails, or any one ofthem. To do this, it is only necessary 'to uuscrew the nut, as shown iniig. 1, and lift up the face plate,when the i'ogpoint or guardrails canbe taken out, o'r either of them, and others pu't in their place; and inthe same manner the interposed elastic material-can be removed, andother ma terial put in its place, if desired. '1

As is well-known, railway-frogs, as ordinarilycom structed, wearoutrapidly, and are a source of heavy expense to railway companies; butas my frog-points and guard-,rails are made of steel, and also maderemovable, t is evident that my improved frog posses/ses many advantagesover the old frog, and can be used at a great saving of expense inthelong run, as the frog-point and rails can be removed as often asdesired.

By the vuse of the end-pieces B, constructed and connected to the frogas describedabove, it-will be seen that the ends of the track-rails andvthe ends of the guard-rails, or the, end of the .frogpoint, with whichthey connect, are kept in such position that their upper surfaces arealways in the same horizontal plane, so that thereis little or nojamming of these ends by the wheels of the passing.- locomotive, car, ortrain.

While my railway-frog is.i constructed of two plates, an upper and alower, it is evident that the principal object of the lower plat-e is tosupply a bearing or support for the frog-points and guard-rails, andthat other bearings might be substituted for the plate.

Having thus described my invention,

1. A railway-frog, consisting of the plates A and C, frog-point'E,guard-rails F, and elastic material D, all constructed and arrangedsubstantially as herein described.

2.' In combination with a railway-frog, as herein de.- scrbed, theend-pieces B, constructed and arranged substantially as and for thepurpose set forth. v

3. In the construction of railway-frogs,inserting the frog-points andguard-rails, provided with anges atv their base, through the frog-plate,substantially as v herein described and for the purpose set forth.

I). C. PIERCE.

Tit-nesses PHIL. T. Dones, H. IB. Munn.

